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faunagraphy

faunagraphy

Active member
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Ever since I first saw photos of oystercatchers earlier this year, I've been wanting to photograph them. I suppose they are a common-enough sight on the coast in their range, but I had never seen them. They're also dark birds with glossy feathers and strikingly-coloured eyes and bills with enough tonal variation that presents a nice challenge to any photographer (and camera).

So they were very much on my bucket-list for my visit to the Olympic coast. The thick beds of countless barnacles, oysters, mussels and various armoured invertebrates (that I cannot ID) offer an endless buffet to these animated, charismatic birds - and presented a fun challenge to my elbows as I tried my best to keep up with them and take low-level shots.

The species found on in the Pacific Northwest is the Black Oystercatcher, which has a black head and breast, dark rusty body, deep yellow eyes, orange eyelids, a striking orange-red bill and fleshy rose-pink legs are just as beautiful in their own right.

On to the photos! All were taken with the Olympus 300mm f4 Pro and MC-20 (teleconverter), processed in Luminar 4 to get accurate colours, and some of these shots were then very slightly processed in Topaz Sharpen AI to bring out fine feather detail that was already present.



An environmental shot showing the dynamic, ever-changing coastal setting they live in. I'm not a fan of the onion ring bokeh that the Olympus lens creates in such lighting conditions. :-(



I love how this photo shows the complex colours of the "black" oystercatcher:



The following are best viewed at 100%:





I was also lucky enough to see this oystercatcher 'catching' (or rather, mining) a mollusc. Out of a burst of 25+ photos, these two are my favourites.





Thank you for viewing! :)
 
Member's gallery
faunagraphy said:
Ever since I first saw photos of oystercatchers earlier this year, I've been wanting to photograph them. I suppose they are a common-enough sight on the coast in their range, but I had never seen them. They're also dark birds with glossy feathers and strikingly-coloured eyes and bills with enough tonal variation that presents a nice challenge to any photographer (and camera).

So they were very much on my bucket-list for my visit to the Olympic coast. The thick beds of countless barnacles, oysters, mussels and various armoured invertebrates (that I cannot ID) offer an endless buffet to these animated, charismatic birds - and presented a fun challenge to my elbows as I tried my best to keep up with them and take low-level shots.

The species found on in the Pacific Northwest is the Black Oystercatcher, which has a black head and breast, dark rusty body, deep yellow eyes, orange eyelids, a striking orange-red bill and fleshy rose-pink legs are just as beautiful in their own right.

On to the photos! All were taken with the Olympus 300mm f4 Pro and MC-20 (teleconverter), processed in Luminar 4 to get accurate colours, and some of these shots were then very slightly processed in Topaz Sharpen AI to bring out fine feather detail that was already present.



An environmental shot showing the dynamic, ever-changing coastal setting they live in. I'm not a fan of the onion ring bokeh that the Olympus lens creates in such lighting conditions. :-(



I love how this photo shows the complex colours of the "black" oystercatcher:



The following are best viewed at 100%:





I was also lucky enough to see this oystercatcher 'catching' (or rather, mining) a mollusc. Out of a burst of 25+ photos, these two are my favourites.





Thank you for viewing! :)
Click to expand...
Great set! Well done 👍👍👍
 
Member's gallery
Last one because of the action. Do you have a picture between the last one and the penultimate, when the bird is extracting the mollusc ?
 
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